Mosaic
by HSYcca
Summary: Who are the Three Demons, and who is the young man with the strange seaweed-like hair? Hideaki, a second year at Rikkai, can't seem to recall. In fact, she can barely recall anyone, besides her neighbor, Marui Bunta. Maybe they're just not important. KiriharaxOCxMarui
1. Prologue

**Title: **Mosiac

**Summary:** Who are the Three Demons, and who is the young man with the strange seaweed-like hair? Hideaki, a second year at Rikkai, can't seem to remember. In fact, she can barely remember anyone, besides her neighbor, Marui Bunta. Maybe they're just not important. KiriharaxOCxMarui

**AN: This is my first proper piece of writing. Oh boy. Critique and reviews are extremely welcome! :D**

Hideaki Rei was never normal.

It wasn't her looks. She was just above average in_ that _sector. Long, chestnut hair, pretty Japanese features. Her eyes were some sort of maroon, but hardly the most ridiculous colour out there- after all, her mother often marveled about how the Marui children down the street had such _lovely, adorable _lavender eyes.

It was more of the fact that_ her brain _wasn't normal.

At family gatherings she mixed up the names of the aunts and uncles . In fact, she couldn't tell whether it was an aunt or uncle before they spoke to her. She would walk right past the Marui family that she was supposed to deliver her mother's freshly baked apple pie to. She couldn't tell her own _parents _apart sometimes. The Hideakis just laughed it off. Rei was their daughter; their cute and air-headed daughter. So what if she was forgetful? She picked up on motor skills quickly, had no destructive tendencies, read and wrote like any other child. They dismissed her inability to recognize people as a "quirk" . The aunts at family gatherings made a game out of Rei's little "quirk". They would wear identical dresses, and ask Rei to tell them apart. Rei never succeeded at it.

When kindergarten started, however, it was obvious that Rei's problems could not simply be dismissed as a "quirk".

The Hideakis were behind a glass panel with the other parents, watching her daughter as she sat in a circle with the other children. They beamed proudly as she introduced herself, watched as the other children did so as well.

"Now then. To get to know each other better, we're going to play a game!" Nana-sensei, the kindergarten teacher, beamed at the new kindergartners. "I'm going to say my name, and my favourite food! Then I'm going to pick someone else, and they have to remember my name and my food, and then say their own! They get to pick someone else after that! Do you all understand?"

"Yes sensei!" The children chorused, with the exception of Rei who seemed to put her attention on the flowers on Nana-sensei's dress instead.

"My name is Nana-sensei, I like grapes! Jiro-kun , it's your turn!"

"She's Nana-sensei, she likes grapes! I'm Jiro, I like pocky! It's your turn!" The boy cheerfully patted the next person on the shoulder. And so it went on.

"KYOKO LIKES PUDDING! I'M MOMO, JUNK FOOD IS THE BEST! IT'S YOUR TURN!" The child bellowed, pointing dramatically across the room.

"…..." said Rei.

"Rei-chan, why don't you tell us Momo-kun's favourite food? If you can't remember, just tell us your own, okay?" Nana-sensei asked sweetly.

"...Which one is Momo?" Rei asked.

"He's right there, dear." Nana-sensei gestured at the boy opposite Rei. Said boy was in shock that the pretty Rei girl didn't recognize him when _he had just introduced himself five seconds ago._

_"_I know he's somewhere there, but which one is he? Everyone looks the same." Rei pouted.

The parents started to whisper. What was wrong with this child? Was she a special needs child? If she was, why was she put with their children, the _normal children?_

* * *

The bell rang. Nana-sensei quietly told Rei that she would like to see her parents, could she please describe them to her?

Rei paused, counting the petals on Nana-sensei's flower printed dress. " Daddy's voice is deep and gruff. Like a walrus. Mummy's is higher pitched. She has a bandaged hand, cos she burnt herself on the stove the other day."

Nana-sensei frowned. What peculiar descriptions. Most children would talk about how pretty their mothers were, what their fathers did for a living. Nonetheless, she identified the woman with the bandage, and scheduled a meeting the following Monday.

* * *

Monday came.

"I think your child has face- blindness." The child psychologist that Nana-sensei called in announced to the occupants of the room. The Hideakis had never heard of it. Nana-sensei fidgeted, obviously not wanting to deal with this sort of uncomfortable situation, where the parents were told that there was something wrong, abnormal, about their child. Rei just sat on the floor.

Face-blindness, or Prosopagnosia. A neurological condition where the patient is unable to register and remember faces, even those of the friends or family that they've known for years. It would explain why Hideaki Rei would sometimes walk right past Mr. Bunta, whom she's known since birth, why she didn't know who Momo was, why she couldn't recognize Nana-sensei when she had changed out of the flowery dress that she wore on the first day of kindergarten. People with face-blindness, the psychologist explained, often relied on other cues, such as voice, attire, or unique features like moles or scars to recognize people.

Hideaki Rei, if she were to be shown a photo of her parents, would probably not recognize them.

* * *

The psychologist told the Hideakis that they were fortunate Rei's face-blindness was discovered early; many children with the disorder grew up, simply unaware that other people could recognize faces. The Hideaki family remained much like it had before, just that they were more conscious of Rei's disorder. Mrs. Hideaki wore a bandage permanently around her hand, so Rei could recognize her by touch. They always reintroduced her to people, no matter how many times she had met them before. They also told the Marui family, down the street, about their daughter's condition.

"Oh my, it must be really difficult for Rei to get along with other children in school! Not being able to befriend anyone there. Or recognize them, for the matter." Mrs. Marui mused.

"Yes, that's why I've come to you. I've been reading up, and apparently children with face-blindness usually get along with children with distinctive features, since they're easier to recognize. And your Bunta... he has quite the hair colour." Mrs. Hideaki laughed daintily, covering her mouth with her bandaged hand.

"Oh, so you want Bunta to help Rei along? Sure! He loves her already, since she always brings apple pie over."

And so, Marui Bunta became Hideaki Rei's first proper friend and permanent babysitter.

* * *

It was true, when Mrs. Marui said that Marui Bunta liked Rei. She was funny. Even before he knew about her condition, she was a great source of amusement (and apple pie.)

Maybe it was her inability to recognize faces and facial expressions, but she was awfully blunt and honest. She would tell the scary old man across the road that his _dog was really noisy, could he just put it down already,_ when everyone else was kept up awake by it.

She would stare at Bunta's younger twin brothers (they both had Mr. Marui's unassuming black hair, while Bunta had his mother's fiery red hair) before asking them _who the heck they were and what did they they think they were doing in Bunta's room?_ The twins would then try to convince her that they've known her for their entire lives, while Rei started mumbling about how her eyes must be going bad because she was seeing two of them.

Marui would eventually pacify her by telling her that they were the friendly goblins that lived in his room, and that she could just ignore them.

Because she was pretty funny, and she gave him a chance to call his brothers goblins on a daily basis, Marui Bunta did not mind having Rei around. In fact, she became like a constant in his life, even though what she did was highly unpredictable. For their entire early childhood, Marui Bunta and Hideaki Rei were rarely seen apart, even though Bunta was a year older. Bunta found her blunt, snarky personality unique, while Rei found a familiar comfort in seeing Bunta's bright pink hair everyday.

"Just let them get married already. Rei can recognize that Marui boy more easily than she can recognize me." Mr. Hideaki snorted.

"They're five and six." Mrs. Hideaki replied lightly. Although, watching Bunta and Rei curling up on the floor. watching cartoons, she had to agree that she wouldn't mind Bunta being her son-in-law. Just 13 more years before Rei was legal... hopefully she would be able to tell Mr. Marui apart from the rest of the world by then.

* * *

**AN: ahhh so that was the prologue of 'Mosiac'! **

**I personally feel my writing style is a bit long winded /offloads a crap ton of unnecessary details/ but this is the first time I'm writing an original plotline! It's all kinda new to me, so if anyone wants to offer any advice, please feel free to do so! And if anyone wants to beta-read this story it would be even better, haha.**

**I wanted to go into Rei and Marui's childhoods ( I hope the facial blindness wasn't too confusing.) The reason Rei is so attached to Marui is cos he's really, really distinctive.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	2. The braid monster, Nanami Shio

**Title: **Mosiac

**Summary:** Who are the Three Demons, and who is the young man with the strange seaweed-like hair? Hideaki, a second year at Rikkai, can't seem to remember. In fact, she can barely remember anyone, besides her neighbor, Marui Bunta. Maybe they're just not important. KiriharaxOCxMarui

**AN: UGUGUUGUH watch me blunder around with fanfiction formatting**

**Enjoy!**

To say that Rei was a socially stunted twelve year old would be _a bit_ of an understatement. _Quite_ a bit, really.

In kindergarten and early elementary school, life was quite manageable. It was fairly easy for her to recognize her classmates because they all wore handmade nametags (by Nana-sensei's request). Even Nana-sensei, who had taught her right up to last year, made it a habit to wear something with floral patterns on it everyday, so Rei could recognize her more easily.

Of course, she also had Bunta.

He had always been there to explain and help her out, when she referred to her teachers by the wrong name, or when she couldn't recognize friends who had changed their hairstyles or removed their braces. He even bribed them to calm down with bubblegum if they got too angry. (_THE_ Marui Bunta, giving up his bubblegum? The other tennis regulars were quite confused at his behavior regarding the girl who sometimes sat quietly at their table.) The other children in the school weren't really used to Rei's odd behavior, but didn't disturb her because Marui Bunta, _tennis tensai_ (yes, the students actually called him that) was always around.

So when Nana-sensei left the school on maternity leave and when Bunta graduated from Rikkai elementary at around the same time, it felt as if Rei had gone from riding a bicycle with training wheels to an unicycle on a tightrope, fifty feet above the ground.

_Terrifying._

She had never been so confused in her life. Marui was no longer there to whisper in her ear, things like_ "that's Soto-sensei, you need to greet him" _or "_The girl who just asked you a question is called Fukuwara" _and Nana-sensei was no longer there to discreetly get the students to wear nametags for Rei's convenience (Nana-sensei claimed to have a bad memory for names. In truth, she memorized the faces and names of the students a whole month before the semester started). Without those two around to baby her, Rei fell off the proverbial unicycle-that-was-life and right into the list of the least popular students in the school .

But it was also in this backdrop that Hideaki Rei made her second-ever friend.

* * *

It was art class when they first met.

The students were supposed to pair up and draw portraits of each other, so Hideaki Rei, second-most-unpopular in class, was forcefully paired with Nanami Shio, first-most-unpopular in class.

Nanami Shio, was not unpopular because she was ugly. (in fact, she had quite pretty and distinctive features.) It was mostly the fact that it was impossible to have a conversation with her without being called stupid, ugly, moronic, or something along those lines. (She once told another girl that her makeup looked like a four year old stuck their greasy fingers on her face after eating particularly oily french fries. The girl transferred.) Rei usually tried to steer clear of her.

Hideaki Rei was just too _weird_ and she always mixed up everyone's names. Plus she clung on to Marui-sempai all the time.

"FOCUS ON YOUR PARTNER'S DISTINCTIVE FEATURES! MAKE SURE YOU DO A GOOD JOB! THIS ASSIGNMENT IS GRADED, GET TO WORK!" Their art teacher, Nezu-sensei, wouldn't look out of place in a room of drill sergeants, but he claimed to have a sensitive and artistic soul, and felt the need to be an art teacher. ("_or maybe he couldn't find any other jobs with that face" _Nanami had muttered.)

_Distinctive features, huh?_ Hideaki furrowed her eyebrows and stared at Nanami's face. Face blindness was truly odd. She could see all the individual features on a person's face- the high nose, sharp eyes and pouty, lipglossed lips, but she couldn't see it as a_ whole. _Like seeing all the letters in a word, but not knowing what the word was. It was impossible for Rei to draw a proper, normal portrait of Nanami.

She decided to listen to listen to Nezu-sensei's advice and focus on Nanami's more.._distinctive features._

* * *

"TIME'S UP, EVERYONE!" Nezu-sensei bellowed. " I'LL COLLECT THE POTRAITS SOON. BUT FIRST, I WANT A PAIR TO SHARE THEIR PORTRAITS, and ONE DISTINCTIVE FEAATURE THEY'VE LEARNT ABOUT THEIR PARTNER!"

The class was silent, intimidated by Nezu's shouting.

Then Nanami Shio raised a perfectly manicured hand.

"ALRIGHT THEN! NANAMI! HIDEAKI! GET OUT HERE AND PRESENT!"

The class stared dubiously at the duo. _Did Nanami Shio think she could draw?_

* * *

Nanami Shio _could draw. Really well._

Everyone was stunned, to put it plainly. Nezu-sensei was crying in amazement _at the ridiculous skill of this supposed twelve year old_.

The portrait of Hideaki was a stunning ensemble of elegant charcoal curves, capturing her focused expression in uncanny likeness, at the same time enhancing her features and making her seem prettier. An awed hush had spread over the class when Nanami first revealed the canvas.

Nanami just had to ruin it, though,

"The title of this sketch," Nanami had announced proudly, "is UNI. It is not only because Hideaki fails dramatically on the proverbial-unicycle-of-life, but also because her most distinctive feature is that when she furrows her eyebrow, she looks like she has an unibrow." Following her insult, Nanami had broken out into a fit of high-pitched, self-induced laughter.

The class sighed. It seemed it would really be impossible for them to get along with Nanami after all.

* * *

"Uh... everyone. LET'S CLAP FOR NANAMI! HIDEAKI, YOU'RE UP NEXT!" (Nezu-sensei had commented that while beautiful, Nanami's sketch lacked the _sensitivity of a true artist.)_

Hideaki simply flipped her canvas around. She was promptly greeted with snorts and rude guffaws.

Nanami glared. _Was that supposed to be her?_

Hideaki had drawn a braid. A french braid, to be exact, identical to the one that Nanami Shio was sporting that day. The braid had a pair of pouty lips (they looked like dried prunes), was wearing a mini-skirt, and seemed to have two hairy arms protruding out of it. The braid-creature was coloured dreadfully with watercolours.

In short, it looked like a monster you could summon from the underworld.

"Hideaki... please... explain your sketch." Nezu-sensei looked like he was going to keel over at any moment.

"Well," Hideaki frowned. " I focused on Nanami's features, like you said to."

"Reall...Really."

"Yeah, Nezu sensei, see, this is Nanami-san's hair," Hideaki gestured at the braid, "Nanami-san's lips are unique because she wears orange lipgloss, so I drew them." She pointed at the dried prune lips. "Her skirt is especially short, so I drew the miniskirt. Oh, and her eyebrows are kinda sharp, so I drew them too." Hideaki gestured at the "hairy arms" that she had drawn protruding out of the braid.

_How are those eyebrows?_ The class thought in unison.

But the portrait had done wonders for the class' perception of Hideaki. "_She ain't that bad after all. Pretty, too.", _one boy had murmured. "_She captured the perfect likeness of Nanami Shio", _giggled two of the girls sitting quite near to Nanami. "_Hey, maybe Hideaki-san's not that strange after all? She's kinda funny..."_

"ENOUGH!" Nanami roared. She stalked up to Hideaki.

" What do you think you're doing? Are you a moron! The teacher told us to draw a portrait, and you're making a _joke _out of it? And _MY _portrait is obviously better than yours, why are _you getting all the attention?"_

"But I'm just drawing what I can see..." Hideaki protested weakly.

"_HHUUARGH? IS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE AN INSULT?"_

"Now, calm down Nanami-" Nezu-sensei was ignored.

"I can't see faces, Nanami-san, so I drew what I could see."

"WHAT SORT OF DUMB EXCUSE IS THAT? Are you saying that I'm _ugly?"_

_"_I'm not joking, Nanami-san, your braid is really nice-"

"_THE FOCUS HERE ISN'T THE BRAID, IT'S ME! STOP LYING AND JUST APOLOGIZE TO ME ALREADY!" _Nanami kicked the portrait out of Hideaki's arms, and it landed on the floor with a loud clatter.

_"_Nanami..." A new voice spoke out. "Hideaki is telling the truth." All eyes turned to the source of the voice- the ever trusty class-rep.

"Hideaki has a disorder called face blindness. Nana-sensei told me before she left. She told me not to talk about it unless it was absolutely necessary." The class rep announced calmly. "It's really not Hideaki's fault."

"I really did put in effort." Hideaki mumbled sulkily.

Nanami looked from the reproachful expressions of her classmates, to the unwavering class-rep, to the sulking Hideaki- goddamnit, how had it turned out like this, everyone ganging up on her-her plan was ruined-

And it was all Hideaki's fault.

Nanami turned on her heel and ran out of the art room.

* * *

"I'm sorry." Hideaki stood over Nanami, holding out a can of drink.

Nanami _glared. _She glared so hard that a hole should have burnt in the middle of Hideaki's goddamn eyebrows. Hideaki was the very last person she wanted to see.

Hideaki just stared back.

"….." Nanami turned away. "How did _you_ find me? I thought you couldn't recognize me or some dumb shit like that."

"Nanami-san is very distinctive and unique." Hideaki shrugged. "Besides, you knocked some paint over when you were running out of the art room, so you left some footprints leading to the roof."

Goddamnit. _Stupid Nanami, STUPID!_

Nanami sighed, turning to face Hideaki. "Alright, alright, I made a dumb mistake. Not my first one, alright? You're forgiven, just leave me alone, already!"

Hideaki frowned. "I'm really very sorry. Since I'm giving you a proper apology, I won't leave until I'm properly forgiven, too."

A bitter laugh. "What, you wanna sit here and listen to why I'm so angry? How about you just go back to class, _class clown?"_

Hideaki sat down.

"Wait, you're really going to listen?"

Nod.

"Really gonna listen?"

Nod.

"You won't chicken out? Pinky swear?"

Nod. Nod. Pinky swear.

"….Well, I'm just so angry!" Nanami exclaimed, words tumbling over each other in her rush to talk. "I thought art class would be a good opportunity to get along with the class. Let them realize I have talent, not just a pretty face. And that was going quite well, before I blew it by mentioning your almost-unibrow and _how was I supposed to know that you had a disorder? _You know my mom is a model, so she wants me to be one too, but I just want to draw. When I was young..." Nanami continued, not seeming to run out of breath.

Hideaki stared.

* * *

"…..anyway, all I wanted was a fresh start, some real friends! And your drawing reminded me that I'm still the same old slutty Nanami Shion, inside and out!"

...Wow. Nanami sure had a high lung capacity. she had ranted for 20 minutes straight.

"That's... overwhelming." Hideaki admitted quietly. "But if what you want is friends and acceptance, you need to learn how to accept other people first. That means you shouldn't insult other people so much."

Nanami just stared incredulously.

"I'm just quoting Bunta." Hideaki shrugged. "His tennis coach gives him too many pep talks."

* * *

The next day, Hideaki and Nanami sat with each other during lunch.

Nanami had tied her hair into the same french braid she tied yesterday, marking the first time in Rikkai history that Nanami Shio was seen with the same hairstyle for two consecutive days.

Hideaki had only raised an eyebrow lightly when Nanami sat down. ("I just felt like wearing my hair like this today, _it's not_ so you can recognize me" Nanami had snapped as a greeting. "It's alright, I'll always recognize your sharp eyebrows." Hideaki replied.) while the rest of the class stared in absolute shock. Weren't they arguing just yesterday? Why were they sitting together? Why were they talking? But the two looked so natural, normal, sitting next to each other, as if they were friends all along.

"I've decided something." Nanami announced between bites of her food.

Hideaki just raised her other eyebrow.

"Well, I always thought, it was either following my mom and modelling, or making my own path and becoming an artist." Nanami twirled her braid around her finger. "But your pep- talk thing on acceptance, it made me think about how I had to take her opinion into account too. So I thought, why not, I model _and draw? I certainly have the capability! Why, whether It's fashion design, modelling, or fine arts, I'll rule them all!" _At this point, had Nanami abandoned her food and was just wildly gesticulating about her future career path. **  
**

"Good old Nanami-san. I'll support you all the way." Hideaki had replied, nodding sagely.

* * *

"I made a friend today." Hideaki informed Marui casually. Or at least tried to. Marui Bunta, with his twelve years of experience with Hideaki Rei, had never seen her so excited on their daily walk back home.

"Really, a friend! Did you meet a stray cat?"

"Nope."

"Stray dog?

"Nope."

"Stray... hamster?"

"Nope. My new friend..." Hideaki paused for dramatic effect. "Is a stray human! Or she used to be a stray. She's on the path of recovery now."

"Really! A human! What, did you give your lunch money to some hobo in the park?"

"No, it's my classmate. She lost sight of her future career path. With a few wise words, I set her back on track and saved her life forever." Hideaki stroked her chin. "We're friends now."

"Huh. You sure you'll be able to recognize her tomorrow?"

"Yes... Nanami-san and I... we have a special connection..."

"Really now. I graduate for two months, and you've already ditched me!" Marui ruffled her hair aggressively.

"Well, you ditched me for that bald guy! And I still let you walk home with me!"

"How dare you insult the genius me and my friends. I'll never forgive you!" Marui yelled, running ahead. "If I get home before you do, I'll revoke your friendship privileges!"

"YOU'RE ON!" Hideaki raced him, like they usually did on their walk back home together.

.

.

.

Some things never changed, like Bunta, and for that Hideaki was grateful.

* * *

**WOOOOH what was that huge timeskip**

**I wanted to have a proper introduction for Hideaki's friend lol. I feel really sorry for those "best friend" ocs that aren't really developed and just hover around the main oc like "durr durr don't worry I'll always be there to matchmake you with the hot guy you're interested in" **

**Next chapter will probably be Hideaki and Nanami graduating from elementary school. Maybe some Kirihara?**

**THANKS FOR READING OoOOOOOO**


	3. Tassels are horrible and itchy

**Title: **Mosiac

**Summary:** Who are the Three Demons, and who is the young man with the strange seaweed-like hair? Hideaki, a second year at Rikkai, can't seem to remember. In fact, she can barely remember anyone, besides her neighbor, Marui Bunta. Maybe they're just not important. KiriharaxOCxMarui

**AN: I'll probably update this often until I get too busy, lol.**

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed or favourited this story! I'M SO EXCITED ( ^ o ^ )**

"Do you _want _me to accidentally rip out your eyebrows?" Nanami threateningly waved the pair of tweezers in Hideaki's face. The tweezers came _way_ too close to Hideaki's eyeball for her comfort, and she scooted away immediately.

The two girls were currently in Nanami's room, which was why Hideaki was being extra-cautious around the girl (who was currently screaming at Hideaki to _uncover her eyebrows and let them be plucked.) _If Nanami was planning to kill her with the tweezers, she would have home ground advantage.

"Why do you even want to pluck my eyebrows anyway?" Hideaki asked dully, hands still over her eyebrows.

"What do you mean by 'why'? How can I look at those monstrous caterpillars and _not_ want to pluck them off? Besides, tomorrow is the graduation ceremony. Your eyebrows has to look nice! Your family is gonna take tons of photos of you, the students of our school _and _the students from the other Kanagawa primary schools are going to be there, AND THEY'RE GONNA PROJECT YOUR FACE ON THE SCREEN FOR EVERYONE TO SEE!" And then Nanami suddenly stopped flailing her arms, leaning in close to Hideaki.

_"Don't forget, Hideaki,"_ Nanami stage whispered with a conspiring smile._ "Marui-sempai will be there too!"_

Hideaki just _groaned. _Somehow, in the last 10 months of her friendship with Nanami Shio, the girl had somehow convinced herself that Hideaki _like-liked_ Marui Bunta. Hideaki had almost given up on trying to convince her otherwise.

Well, perseverance was key, Hideaki supposed. "I don't _like-like_ Bunta, Nanami." Hideaki deadpanned for the umpteenth time.

"You obviously _do!_"

"There is no evidence to prove your statement."

"STOP LYING, HIDEAKI! You walk home with him every day!"

"That's because we're neighbors."

"He _shares his sweets with you! And bakes you cake on your birthday!" _

"I force him to share the sweets. He eats most of the cake he bakes himself, anyway."

"You know all sorts of weird stuff about him!"

"No-...What do you mean, Nanami?"

Nanami fixed Hideaki with a level, condescending, glare. "When's Marui's birthday?"

"April 20. He's an Aries." Hideaki replied, without missing a beat.

"Favourite tennis brand?"

"Wilson."

"Favourite movie?"

"Pirates of the Caribbean."

"Dream girl?"

"A girl who's sweet, quiet, innocent, and gives him food. Ideally someone who looks cute in ribbons and bows." Hideaki answered monotonously,

"See?" Nanami pointed dramatically. "You _like-like _him!"

"No, I don't see."

"You remember everything he tells you! You watch him like a stalker. The both of you are always together unless he's forcing that bald guy to treat him to cake or when I drag you to my house. I bet if I were to ask you something _weird_ like the brand of his shampoo or the number of video games he has, you'd know the answer."

"He uses Kumo-brand strawberry shampoo, and has 27 video games to date.10 wii games, 12 playstation titles and 5 3DS cartridges. He just bought Pokemon X last week." Hideaki recited with half-lidded eyes. "Any proper childhood friend would know these things."

Nanami just threw up her hands in defeat. Maybe the reason why Hideaki couldn't remember anyone's faces was because she was too busy memorizing stuff about Marui Bunta.

* * *

Because Nanami had refused to let her leave her room, _even after she had forcefully plucked Hideaki's eyebrows_ ("We still need to put on face masks! And buff our nails!"), Rei called her mother and informed her that she would be staying over at Nanami's house for the night.

"Hey mom."

"Ah, Rei dear! Are you still at Nanami's? Do you need your father to go over and fetch you?"

"Yes, I'm at Nanami's. I think I'll be staying at her house tonight." Hideaki gave a sideways glance at Nanami, who seemed to be fussing about which bow should Hideaki wear in her hair tomorrow.

"Oh! That's wonderful! Have a great time, dear."

"Mmhmm."

A couple of seconds of comfortable silence.

"Mom?"

"Yes, dear?"

"If I changed... as a person, would you and Dad continue to love me?"

_Ah. Our Rei is growing up,_ Mrs. Hideaki thought to herself. Young children tended to be insecure when going through transitions (at least, that's what the parenting books said) and Rei was graduating tomorrow. "Don't worry, dear." Mrs. Hideaki said tenderly. "You're my daughter and I'll love you no matter what."

"Hm. Oh. Good. Well, I was asking since Nanami plucked my eyebrows, and you specifically told me to never do anything to my face that wasn't natural. But since you love me unconditionally it's all cool, right? Yeah?_ Seeyoutomorrowmomgoodnight!_" Mrs. Hideaki faintly the _click _of Rei hanging up.

Mrs. Hideaki chuckled into the dialtone. Parenting book advice never seemed to apply to her Rei. Maybe she shouldn't have bought so many books.

* * *

It was the day of the graduation ceremony. The Kirihara family was _very _late.

Kirihara Akaya, star tennis player and captain of the Dai-nii Kanagawa elementary school, was graduating today. _And the ceremony had started forty minutes ago._

"Oh my _god!_ They're probably already at the 'J's already! And how many children are going to have names starting with J_? _There's only a few more people before Aka-chan's called up! DRIVE FASTER, YOU HORRIBLE MAN!"Mrs. Kirihara slapped Mr. Kirihara soundly on the shoulder. The car swerved dangerously, triggering a series of angry honks from the cars around them.

"Leave me alone, you dumb broad! Who asked you to wash your hair in the morning? If it weren't for you, we wouldn't be late!"

"You were the one who insisted on reading the newspaper before going out! And hair like mine is really high maintenance! Right, Aka-chan?"

"Yeah!" The 12-year-old Kirihara Akaya was like a carbon copy of his mother, complete with the curly black hair and glass-green eyes. "Dad should just shut up and drive!"

"Keep quiet, you Mama's boy! Dad's already trying his best!" Mr. Kirihara yelled back

"Kirihara Jin, _DON'T TALK TO YOUR SON LIKE THAT!"_

"HE'S THE ONE WHO TOLD ME TO SHUT UP! AND I WAS SUPPOSED TO GO ON AN COMPANY OUTING TODAY, BUT INSTEAD I HAVE TO ATTEND HIS STUPID GRADUATION CEREMONY!"

"OWowowoow, let go of my ear! BOTH HANDS ON THE STEERING WHEEL, DAD!"

"_JIN!"_

_"YOU_ started it first!" Kirihara Jin, sensing that he was quickly losing the two-front battle against his wife and son, looked around desperately. "I'm right, aren't I, Ayumi-darling?"

Kirihara Ayumi, the daughter of the Kirihara family, just sighed and looked away from her father's pleading stare. "I just live with these idiots..."

* * *

"Hideaki Rei." The principal announced. "from Dai-san elementary."

Hideaki wobbily walked up the stage. Nanami, for once, _wasn't _exaggerating when she said there was going to be _a lot_ of people. The three public schools in Kanagawa had decided to hold their graduation ceremonies together, which meant that about 300 students, along with their parents and teachers, were crammed into a single amphitheatre. (Bunta was there too. They had pretended he was her older brother.) It was pretty scary, especially since it was hard for her to recognize anyone in the crowd.

She hoped her tassel on her hat wouldn't blow into her nose and make her sneeze or anything like that. That would be quite embarrassing.

The principal smiled genially and opened his mouth to congratulate her-

-And the door at the back of the amphitheatre slammed open.

"KIRIHARA AKAYA, CLASS 6D, DAI-NII ELEMENTARY! REPORTING FOR DUTY!" A boy, who couldn't be any taller than Bunta, was silhouetted in the gigantic doorway. Then, upon seeing Hideaki's name projected on the screen, called over his shoulder, "Mo-om! They're only at the 'H's! We're not_ that_ late yet, we shouldn't have rushed that red light."

The crowd stared.

"Aka-chan, don't shout! And you forgot your hat." A middle aged woman ran up behind the boy, pushing the tasseled hat into his arms. "Now get out there and make me proud!" The mother and son duo beamed brightly at each other, seeming completely unaware that they were being observed by an entire amphitheatre of people.

"er... Hideaki-chan, take the certificate and quietly exit the stage, alright?" The poor principal was sweating, eyes darting between Hideaki and the boy at the back. He winced as the disciplinary master started shouting at both the mother and the son. "Oh, and good luck in middle school!" He tried to smile, but failed rather miserably.

Hideaki nodded, taking the opportunity to quickly get off the stage.

* * *

Everyone who went to see Hideaki at the graduation ceremony was quite angry at the Kirihara guy, with the exception of Hideaki who was more than alright with it.

Mr. Hideaki was angry because he thought Kirihara was an absolute brat.

Mrs. Hideaki was angry because she hadn't gotten any photos of her darling Rei.

Bunta was angry because the ceremony ended 30 minutes late, which meant they couldn't go to the lunchtime buffet at his favourite restaurant.

Nanami was angry because no one had noticed Hideaki's new eyebrows yet.

Hideaki was actually ecstatic. She didn't really care much about Kirihara being late or whatever, but the boy had unintentionally saved her from the stares of the crowd and the flashes of her mom's camera. In fact, she owed him a debt of gratitude.

_'Maybe I should try to befriend him?' _Hideaki had thought to herself.

* * *

_'Annnnnd scratch that,'_ Hideaki thought exactly two months later, on the first day of middle school. The boy that she had been thinking about befriending had just _jumped on the school gate while declaring he was going to defeat the 'Big Three', whatever that meant._

"It means we're not going to be friends with him anytime soon." Nanami rolled her eyes and flicked her braid over her shoulder. Hideaki nodded sagely. It was rare, but occasionally she and Nanami agreed on some things.

The two first years were walking a small distance behind Marui and the bald guy (Jockle? Jackie? Hideaki couldn't quite remember his name) while they marveled at how Kirihara had just scaled a wall about twice as tall as he was.

"Anyway," Nanami began. "I've been planning to ask you for a while, but why is it every time you see Kirihara, you can recognize him?"

Hideaki paused. She had seen him around a few times since the graduation ceremony, and had wondered why he had suddenly popped up everywhere like some sort of malignant tumour. According to her father, "that terrible Kirihara family" had just moved in 2 streets away from the Maruis.

Every time she had seen him, he had been doing something _stupid._ Like knocking over a whole stack of soup cans at the supermarket, or breaking Mr. Takeshi's windows with a tennis ball (He was chased down by Mr. Takeshi's rottweilers) or pretending to be a mannequin in a _female_ clothes store to avoid his angry sister. (when he had seen Hideaki staring at him, he had made a shushing gesture and was immediately spotted by his sister.

Anyway, all of those times, Hideaki had recognized him almost _immediately. _The only people that that had happened with were her parents, Bunta, and recently, Nanami. It was intriguing. Although his looks were quite distinctive (his hair reminded her of seaweed, and his eyes were this weird shade of glass green) his personality, his _aura,_ was what seemed to stand out to Hideaki.

"HEY REI? ARE YOU JUST GONNA STARE INTO SPACE OR WHAT?" Snapping back into focus, Hideaki was greeted with the sight of a grinning Bunta.

"I thought you died standing up! Let's go, we're gonna be late soon." Nanami huffed.

Hideaki shrugged. Whatever it was about Kirihara that stood out to her, she would figure out sooner or later.

* * *

**AN: LMAO Kirihara is still a brat. Can't wait for Yukimura to beat him around a little.**

**I found out that Kirihara and Marui attended different elementary schools. LMAO I AM SO GLAD I DIDN'T PUT KIRIHARA IN TOO EARLY**

**And they both like cheerful/sweet girls. What are you doing Hideaki. STOP BEING A DEAD FISH**

**THANKS FOR READIINNNNGGGG**


	4. Velocity of a shoe to the face

**Title: **Mosiac

**Summary:** Who are the Three Demons, and who is the young man with the strange seaweed-like hair? Hideaki, a second year at Rikkai, can't seem to remember. In fact, she can barely remember anyone, besides her neighbor, Marui Bunta. Maybe they're just not important. KiriharaxOCxMarui

**AN: Thank you to everyone else who has reviewed, followed or favourited recently! You guys have really kept me going with this fic. Of course, feel free to point out any flaws in my writing!**

**I've noticed that Marui's becoming more popular recently lol. I've been seeing MaruixRyoma popping up all over the place!**

**He's been my favourite character in POT for like... 1 and a half years now so it's great to see him getting more attention/HAPPILY ROLLS ONTO MARUI BUNTA BANDWAGON**

**ALSO KIRIHARA BUT I DON'T LIKE YEAR 1 KIRIHARA THAT MUCH )))))B / prays for him to hit puberty quickly**

**Enjoy!**

Hideaki stood behind Nanami in the hallway. The taller girl had been standing in the doorway of the 1-C classroom for quite sometime now. Hideaki wasn't quite tall enough to see over her shoulder (and there was no way she was going to put in effort to actually try and _tiptoe_ and peer over Nanami) so she just jabbed her friend in the stomach.

And then she regretted it immediately. Without Nanami blocking her view, she could see that there, sitting at a seat, right next to the window, was Kirihara Akaya. Kirihara Akaya was _talking to himself._ No, more accurately, _he was talking to the people in his Monthly Pro magazine like they were actually real. _Damn. Hideaki knew that Marui kept a rather... _suggestive_ picture of some female tennis player in his phone, but Kirihara actually bringing the magazine to school and _talking to them like they were real_ just seemed, well, crazy, for a lack of a better word. (Tennis-crazy, to be specific.)

Then it hit her.

_They were in the same class._

Yes, Hideaki had at first felt indebted to Kirihara. Then the gratitude descended into something like concern for his mental health, and subsequently she felt nothing but _irritation._

She just saw the boy around too much, doing stupid things like hiding in trashcans so he could 'get into the game store unnoticed' (She knew this because she and Bunta were in the queue leading up to the game store to buy a new Wii U. She had watched Kirihara as he approached the game store with his trashcan disguise, money in hand, before getting kicked over by some kid that complained that 'the queue was taking far too long!' Hideaki had wondered why she was the _only_ person who had noticed _the talking, walking trashcan_.)

When she had asked Bunta about it, (Bunta had been present during most of Kirihara's antics, like the incident with the soupcans) he just shrugged. He had either been too busy stuffing himself with cake or just didn't care enough to remember. He had even forgotten that it was _Kirihara_ who interrupted the graduation ceremony, of all things to forget!

Hideaki wrinkled her forehead in frustration. All her life she had been around people that she had struggled to remember, people whose photos she had stared at for hours and _hours, trying to remember where had she seen that nose before? Those lips, that hairline, that smile?_

But all of a sudden, there was a boy. A boy she could remember effortlessly, without ever having direct contact with him. She couldn't forget him if she wanted to.

Hideaki found it upsetting.

* * *

_ "What should I do?" _ Marui Bunta, self-proclaimed tennis tensai, cake lover, and childhood friend of Hideaki Rei, decided that the best way to spend the morning practice was to whine about his problems.

Yes, they had morning practice on the first day of school. Yukimura was crazy.

Jackal rolled his eyes. He was already too used to this. As he pushed Marui into a stretch, he sighed and asked dutifully like the best friend that he was: "What's wrong, Marui?"

"_Rei! My darling Rei is wearing a bow today! Is she trying to impress that Kirihara guy?"_

_"Just _a bow?" Niou wiggled his eyebrows. "Looks like Rei-chan is bolder than I thought!"

Marui just let out an offended croak/sob.

Jackal made eye contact with another member of the tennis club and just shook his head. The rest of the tennis club paid Marui no mind. They had seen this coming for _months. Since Marui Bunta wouldn't shut up about how Hideaki Rei was entering Rikkai in January._

Well, the truth was, Marui Bunta had a secret.

It couldn't really be called a secret, because there was only one person involved that _didn't _know.

Jackal knew. The tennis club knew. The Three Demons knew. Nanami knew. Hell, even Marui's coach from elementary school knew!

_When concerning Hideaki Rei, Marui Bunta had a huge, absurd, raging sister complex._

Jackal wasn't sure if 'brother complex' really covered it. It might be a crush, since they weren't related by blood, but it seemed to _obsessive _ to be a crush. Plus, Marui had known Rei since she needed to change her diapers, so they were sort of like siblings. Jackal heard that they even shared the bed when they slept over at each other's houses.

Marui worked hard to keep up his lazy and uncaring persona around Rei; just like how he had always been in his childhood. He didn't want to scare Hideaki by letting her know that he knew how many plushies she had on her bed (32) or the fact that he bought strawberry shampoo _because_ he knew she _liked _the smell of it. That would be absolutely creepy, coming from the guy who also had walked Hideaki to kindergarten and sang the opening of 'The Pirates of the Caribbean" together with her every morning on the way to school for the past 5 years.

It would be like the family dog suddenly transforming into a human and declaring his undying love for you, after years of sitting around the house watching you change, sleep and shower.

Yeah.

Really creepy.

And that's why Marui acted like he always had, seemingly disinterested when Hideaki pointed out a new movie or someone interesting (like Nanami or Kirihara). What Hideaki didn't know, however, was that Marui would rush home, advance book the movie tickets as a surprise, and do whatever research he could to check if these people were dangerous to _his Rei._

(So, far, he had decided that Nanami was harmless. Kirihara? Not so much.)

_"What do I do?"_ Marui wailed again. Since Rei was obviously out of the question and his twin brothers were a terrible option, most of his ranting regarding Rei went to Nanami or the other pre-regulars of the tennis club. This time it was the pre-regulars.

"Strip naked. Run to her class during recess, swoop her into your muscular arms and confess to her. Atobe style. That Kirihara kid will never stand a chance." Masaharu Niou grinned at his classmate. "Actually, don't go naked. Wear strawberry print undies. Doesn't Rei-chan l_ooooove strawberries?_"

"Niou..." Jackal frowned at him disapprovingly. Marui was already in an unstable state of mind, there was no telling _what _he would do. Masaharu Niou was _not _helping.

"Oh, if you're going to confess to her, call me along! I'll take a video and play it at your wedding." Niou smirked dismissively at Jackal.

"THAT'S IT!" Marui suddenly shouted, springing out of his stretch position and into a crouch that G.I Joe would be proud of. "THAT'S IT! THAT'S WHAT I'LL DO!"

Jackal blanched. "I've been giving you sensible advice for the past two years, and you listen to Niou when he _tells you to confess in strawberry-print underwear?_"

Marui stared, before laughing merrily. "Oh, no, no, though he did give me a great idea!"

Niou raised his eyebrows. "Of course. I am the father of all good ideas."

"I'll just befriend Kirihara!" Marui smiled widely. "I'll drop subtle 'hints' that Rei's not interested in dating. I'll videotape all of his embarrassing stunts, so if he ever tries to confess... " Marui chuckled before popping his gum. "_I'll play it all in front of the entire school."_

"Cool." Niou shrugged. "But what are you going to do if _Rei-chaaaan _confesses to him first?"

A pause. Jackal stopped rubbing his head. Yagyuu paused mid-stretch. Everyone stopped and watched Marui.

"Uh... uhhh... Niou, dude, don't put me in this sort of situation! I'll sit on it in class, yeah? And you can help me scheme! You're the master schemer, aren't you? Jackal can do all the dirty work..." Marui babbled.

"Hey!" Jackal snapped back. It seemed like being Marui's best friend was both damaging to his wallet and his sanity.

* * *

"Okay." Nanami snapped. "He can't get any stupider than _this!_" Nanami was tapping her mechanical pencil on the table loudly. Hideaki sighed. For all of Nanami's bimbo looks, she was quite smart, especially in her humanities. Hideaki on the other hand, preferred math. Straight, precise, to the point. No answer that's halfway right or halfway wrong.

"KIRIHARA!" The teacher roared. "DID YOU EVEN LEARN BASIC HISTORY IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL? TELL ME! WHO'S ODA NOBUNAGA? OKITA SOJI? YUKIMURA SANADA?"

"Oh, I know these guys!" Kirihara grinned cockily. "Nobunaga's the bad guy in Samurai Warrior. Okita Soji's the brown haired guy from Gintama, while Yukimura and Sanada are the two of the Three Demons in the Rikkai tennis club!"

Hideaki watched Nanami's pencil break under her grip.

The teacher was spluttering. If you ever wanted to piss off a teacher, all you had to do was talk about videogames, manga or sports during class. Kirihara had done all three in a row, insulted the subject the teacher was teaching when he was at it while looking completely nonchalant. A true recipe for disaster.

Hideaki sighed as the teacher told Kirihara off. She wondered if every single lesson would be like this.

* * *

Yukimura smiled at his treasurer. "Renji, you're 100% sure of your information?"

"98.5%" Renji corrected. "I overheard them talking, but there's a slight possibility that I misunderstood."

"She's finally in this school, huh, Genchirou? The girl that has been distracting Marui." Yukimura smiled up at his vice captain from his seat.

"He's been slacking off." Sanada assented roughly. "Sometimes he skips practice to 'watch her'."

Yukimura's smile became a little icier. "Yes... he has been quite reluctant to spend extra time on weight training recently... Perhaps we should... _warn her to stay away_?"

Renji raised a hand. "Seichii, let's not make quick decisions. There is a 70% probability that this problem is not caused by Hideaki alone. In fact, it's probably because Marui is jealous of _someone,_ which is why he's even more obsessive than usual. If we can get that _someone _ to cooperate with us, we'll be able to ensure Marui is on the regular team next year."

"Oh?" Yukimura closed his eyes. "Who is this... target of jealousy?"

The brown-haired treasurer snapped open his notebook in one fluid motion. "Kirihara Akaya. Rikkaidai first year. Supposedly the target of Hideaki Rei's romantic interest. Has expressed interest in joining the tennis club."

Sanada's eyebrows furrowed. "That brat on the school gate this morning?"

"The brat on the school gate this morning." Yanagi confirmed.

"This is ridiculous!" Sanada burst out. "Why are we putting in so much effort to get Marui on our team? Why must we try to appease some girl or some brat? If he wants to get on the team he should work for it himself!"

"But Genchirou," Yukimura reasoned gently. "Marui has some of the greatest potential on the pre-regular team."

"He's _slacking off!_" Sanada snapped back. " I refuse to help him unless he helps himself. And no, I'm not going to talk to some weak girl on his behalf!" He turned on his heel and began to stomp out of the room.

"Genchirou." Renji inclined his head slightly to face his friend. "Did you know that Hideaki is a fellow martial artist? I heard she is quite proficient at taekwondo."

"Yes, Genchirou, Haven't you been wanting to meet another fellow martial artist in Rikkai?" Yukimura prodded.

Sanada stopped stomping. The other two demons smirked at each other, knowing that their friend had been swayed.

* * *

"Wait." Nanami scrunched up her face at Hideaki. "You take taekwondo? And apparently you go to practice 5 times a week? And you've been doing it since you were _five? Why do I not know this?_"

Hideaki shrugged. "Every time I feel like bringing it up you're too busy talking. Anyway, can you go with me to my ceremony or not? Bunta has tennis practice."

Nanami was too busy mumbling to herself. "Black belt. Black belt. My friend is going to be a _black belt? She wants me to be at the ceremony where she gets her black belt?"_

"Black belts aren't that rare. There are 6 year olds with black belts." Hideaki deadpanned. "And considering how you can break a mechanical pencil with simply your grip, I don't know why you're so worked up about my black belt."

Nanami's head shot up. "Does Marui-sempai know about this?"

"Yeah, of course. My taekwondo ends at about the same time as his tennis practice, so we go home together. Anyway, he was the one who encouraged my mom to make me learn self-defense." Hideaki tilted her head. "Just in case I follow some stranger home, thinking they're my dad or something."

Nanami just twitched.

"Hey, you two! Wanna get lunch?" Bunta waltzed into their classroom, followed my the bald guy (Hideaki really needed to ask for his name) and some other guy she had never seen before. She squinted at his features-

-And a shoe hit him square in the face.

Hideaki whipped her head around incredulously to face the now fuming, shoeless Nanami. And then she looked at the guy on the floor, who was clutching his nose. He had white hair and moles.

"What-" Marui sputtered out intelligently. "Nanami, what_ the hell?"_

_"NIOU MASAHARU! I TOLD YOU I NEVER WANTED TO SEE YOUR MOLEY FACE EVER AGAIN!"_

The 'Niou' guy just groaned on the floor.

Marui made eye contact with Rei. Rei shrugged. She had never even heard about this guy from Nanami before.

"Hey, Marui! Niou's bleeding a hell lot from his nose!" Jackal yelled at Marui.

Nanami was currently in the process of unlacing her other shoe. "_GET OUT! DIE! DIE! NIOU MASAHARU, YOU SON OF A BITCH!"_

"Hey Jackal? I think we should GET NIOU OUT OF HERE BEFORE NANAMI KILLS HIM! Rei, hold her back!"

Hideaki grabbed Nanami in a firm taekwondo hold, the latter girl kicking and screaming. Marui and Jackal hastily hauled Niou up, hightailing it out of the classroom in minutes.

"_NIOU MASAHARU! IF I EVER SEE YOUR DIRTY FACE IN HERE EVER AGAIN, I'LL BREAK BOTH OF YOUR ARMS OFF AND HANG THEM OVER MY FIREPLACE!" _

* * *

_"_I'm guessing that you don't really like the guy that came in with Bunta?" Hideaki raised an eyebrow. Fortunately, none of her classmates were present while Nanami was having her violent hissy fit (it was lunchtime, the classroom was empty), so with a stroke of luck they avoided trouble on their first day in school.

"Niou Masaharu was standing 3.5 metres away from me. I threw a shoe at his face at about 85km/h. Calculate how much I like that shitty bastard." Nanami was currently sulking on her chair, refusing to look at Hideaki in the eye.

Hideaki sighed. She dragged the last displaced table back into place. There, the classroom looked normal, besides the not-really-conspicuous blood stain on the floor. "What happened?"

Nanami frowned down at her table. "I met him at a business party when we were kids. He poured a barrel of punch on me, but made it look like it wasn't his fault. We've met a few times since then. None of them went any better. "

"How much was your dress?"

"Costs more than all the game consoles and games that you and Bunta own combined."

"Sounds like he's a dick."

"You've got that one right."

* * *

"Hey, watch it with the cotton swab!"

"How about you tell me then? Why did Nanami throw a shoe at you in the first place?" Marui scolded.

Niou looked away. "I may have poured punch on her... and thrown lizards on her... maybe I also tore her dress in front of a group of highly-dignified people that decide her mom's paycheck?"

Jackal slapped his forehead. Thank god he was already bald, or he might have lost all his hair dealing with these two. "Then what are the both of you going to do about the plan?"

"Huh?" Marui and Niou blinked up at him.

Jackal rubbed his temples. "I thought Niou was going to befriend Hideaki and Kirihara and drive them apart? How is he going to do that if he can't even approach Hideaki without getting attacked by Nanami?"

Marui just groaned. He should have known that Niou's pranks would come bite him back in the ass one day.

* * *

"What's this?" Kirihara stared at the teacher out of half lidded eyes. "Kirihara, are you sleeping again?"

Kirihara straightened out of his slump. "Ah, yes sensei! I'm awake! Ready to take on the world!"

The teacher sighed. "It's already 3. I think you've had enough sleep for today!"

Hideaki stared as Kirihara gaped at the teacher, then at the clock. "It's already _three- Crap, I'm late for tennis tryouts!" _The boy sprang out of his seat, only to be pulled back by the teacher. "Not so fast! Maybe you'd like to explain how you can get a 0 on your English diagnostic test?" The teacher dramatically pulled out a test paper with ugly red marks all over it. The class giggled. Hideaki was glad Nanami already left the class to go for Art Club tryouts. She might have actually walked over to Kirihara and smacked him over the head for his stupidity.

Kirihara just stood there, struck dumb. The teacher smirked. "Write the English word, 'apple', 500 times! Only then you can leave school. If you try to skip out, detention for a week!" The teacher turned around, still smirking. "The rest of you, go on! I'm sure you guys have to go for your _club tryouts,_ after all." The teacher sent one last malicious grin at Kirihara, before waltzing out of the classroom. Hideaki's classmates trickled out after him, sending amused glances at the boy.

Said boy was only at his 5th repetition of 'apple'. At the rate he was going, Hideaki suspected he would only finish in the evening.

"Let me do it for you." Hideaki spoke up suddenly, walking over to Kirihara's table.

"Huh?" Kirihara stared up at her with his wide green eyes. "_Huh?"_

Hideaki shrugged, sitting on the chair in front of Kirihara's. "You're late for tennis tryouts, right? Go. This is a pointless punishment anyway, it won't teach you anything." Hideaki's pencil flew across the paper. She stared squarely at the stunned boy. "I have a friend who likes tennis too. Go, before you're even more late."

Kirihara gaped at her, before breaking into a grin. "T-Thank you, lady! Oh thank you, thank you, thank you! Uh, what's your name? I'll treat you to Yakiniku someday!"

She paused. "Hideaki Rei."

Kirihara clapped his hands. "Hideaki-san, huh! I'll remember that name! Thanks so much!" With a couple of bows, the boy had grabbed his tennis bag and was already sprinting out of the room before Hideaki could even say "you're welcome."

Hideaki smiled lightly. With this, her debt to him at the graduation ceremony would be repaid. It would be one less thing on her mind.

/

**AN: DUN DUN DUN LOOKS LIKE NIOU AND NANAMI HAVE SOME HISTORY! It's mostly for the plot lol. Niou can't approach Hideaki till later. You'll see why.**

**AND WHAT ARE THE DEMON TRIO PLANNING?**

**I feel sorry for Jackal. And Yagyuu. They're probably the only sane ones in the entire story.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	5. Perhaps you're the mother

**Title: **Mosiac

**Summary:** Hideaki scrunched up her nose at Marui. "Why exactly do all these tennis players have such weird hair? Does it increase their performance or something?" MaruixOCxKirihara

**AN: I changed the summary. It was way too inaccurate lol.**

**It's been a while since I last updated. I've been busy, my entire holiday is being eaten up!**

**Special thanks to HidingSomething for the really helpful info and critique! THANK YOU SO MUCH CRIES**

* * *

Hideaki stared at the door to the staff room.

She hadn't thought it through when she had offered her help to Kirihara.

She _really really _hadn't thought it through when she had offered her help to Kirihara.

Sighing, Hideaki sent a text to her taekwondo teacher- (Koro-sensei, he liked to call himself) -it looked like she wouldn't be able to go for today's lesson. Goddamnit Kirihara.

She felt like an idiot. A good hearted idiot, but an idiot nonetheless. With a quiet frown, The short girl peered into the staff room by tiptoeing. Why was there only a small window in the door! She was completely unable to see anything without looking extremely suspicious.

Why was she in this dilemma anyway? Hideaki sighed _again._ Well, since she couldn't do anything else, she might as well go over the day's events _again._

_flashback:_

_The teacher smirked. "Write the English word, 'apple', 500 times! Only then you can leave school. If you try to skip out, detention for a week!" The teacher turned around, still smirking. "The rest of you, go on! I'm sure you guys have to go for your club tryouts, after all." The teacher sent one last malicious grin at Kirihara, before waltzing out of the classroom._

_The flashback ended. Hideaki still felt stupid._

She flailed quietly against the wall for a few minutes. See if she ever did a favour for anyone ever again!

Okay. She needed to calm down. Why was she freaking out? She prided herself on her rational thinking. But here she was, reduced to a flailing idiot! Hideaki slapped both of her cheeks. Think, Rei, think.

"Now, why am I panicking now" Hideaki asked herself aloud.

She deflated again. The situation was still hopeless!

When the teacher had given Kirihara the punishment, it was because he wanted to humiliate Kirihara in revenge for his snarkiness during class. It also meant that the teacher wanted Kirihara to waste time, miss the tennis tryouts, then come back to the staff room and _apologize personally, after he wrote 'apple' 500 times by himself._

The piece of paper, in Hideaki's hand, did have 500 repeats of the word 'apple' on it. However, it wasn't written in Kirihara's childish block letters; instead, it was written in Hideaki's distinct cursive.

And even if she _did_, somehow, manage to forge Kirihara's atrocious handwriting, the fact remained that she _wasn't _Kirihara Akaya, and therefore she wouldn't be able to give a _personal_ apology to the teacher that Kirihara had pissed off in the first place.

Hideaki knew she couldn't leave early without handing up the punishment! She took pride in honoring her promises, even if it was just a promise between her and Kirihara! Also, if she left now, it would be like admitting defeat against both Soto-sensei and Kirihara. Hideaki was a very, very, sore loser. To keep her pride intact, she would stay here until the given task had been completed!

..Well. This still sucked. With a huff, Hideaki leaned against the wall next to the teacher's lounge. With any luck, Soto-sensei would come out by himself.

"..." Hideaki waited.

"..." She scratched her elbow.

"...Looks like it's not happening!" Hideaki huffed to herself, and went back to peering into the window.

She scratched her head. Maybe she should try dressing up as Kirihara?

...No. Hideaki slapped herself for even thinking of such a ridiculous idea.

Maybe she could tell the teacher that Kirihara asked her to pass the paper along?

…No, the teacher would connect the dots after seeing Hideaki's handwriting on the paper. Besides, she didn't want the teacher to think that she was Kirihara's underling or something. That was definitely _not_ the impression she wanted to give on the first day of school.

Maybe-

'BANG!'

The door down the hallway slammed open, completely derailing Hideaki's train of thought. A quick glance at the signboard above the door showed that it was the infirmary. A boy, much taller than Hideaki, strode out of the infirmary, grumbling about nosebleeds and how the toilets didn't have any tissues. Hideaki squinted and tilted her head. He looked rather familiar, somehow...

The boy turned, walking towards Hideaki. She stiffened as the boy removed his hand from his face, revealing a set of deep blue orbs. And a wad of cotton wool stuffed up his nose.

"Ah, you!" Hideaki and the boy pointed at each other, expressions comically alike.

"The moley guy that ruined Nanami's life!"

"The kid that Marui- hey, since when did I ruin that girl's life?"

Hideaki scowled and marched towards the boy. She moved suddenly, streaking a long pencil line on his shirt.

"Puri?" The boy brushed at his shirt before glaring at Hideaki. "Hey! Are you trying to ruin my shirt?"

"Its already ruined from your nosebleed, you dress-ruiner! And shut up, the staff room is right there, do you want to be heard!" Hideaki continued writing with the pencil on the shirt. The words 'life-ruiner' started to form on top of Niou's bloodstain. "You life-ruiner, life-ruiner, life-ruiner! _Nanami's dress was so expensive!"_

"You think I don't know that? What are you even doing here, it's already 5pm!"

"It's 4.46!" Hideaki snapped threateningly, waving the 'apple' paper in the boy's face. She didn't want to admit she spent more than an hour dallying outside the staffroom. "I have to give this to a sensei, but I can't!"

"Eh? Why not!" Niou inquired.

Hideaki sighed. She supposed it wouldn't hurt to show him the punishment sheet. She could always violently backhand him if he tried anything weird.

Niou rose his eyebrows as he scanned over the paper.

Apple. Apple. Apple. Apple? What the hell was this? It looked like a punishment sheet, but according to Marui, Hideaki's second best subject was English, right after Math. Niou scratched his head, trailing his eyes to the left hand corner. And then he understood. And he _grinned._

"Ah, so this is why." Niou, plucked the paper from Hideaki's grasp, smirking at the name in the top left corner. Kirihara Akaya, huh? So Marui wasn't exaggerating when he said that Rei-chan liked this Kirihara kid. Even enough to do his punishment for him.

Hideaki frowned and tried to snatch the paper back. "What's up with you? I need to give this to sensei!"

"AHAHAHAHAHA!" Niou burst into raucous laughter. "Poor Marui, really... you're really something, aren't ya? Piyo."

Hideaki frowned. What was with this moley bastard? With his weird 'puri's and 'piyo's, you would think he was a weird pedo or something trying to act cute.

"Well, tell ya what, Rei-chan." The boy grinned. "My name is Niou Masaharu, and I can help you. I can help you to pass up the punishment on Kirihara's behalf, if you agree to owe me a favor. Piyo?"

Hideaki shook slightly. She didn't trust this bastard in the slightest. But it wasn't like she had any other options.

"Fine." She grumbled out. "But in case you try to scam me, just know that I'm a taekwondo black belt, alright?

Niou grinned. Of _course _he knew. He made it a point to remember everyone's behavioral patterns and hobbies. Even if it was secondhand information from Bunta, about a girl he didn't know-until now, that is.

"Don't worry, puri." Niou replied simply.

* * *

"Is this... really okay?" Hideaki squinted at Niou.

"Don't worry, piyo. My disguise skills are perfect. Now it's all up to your acting." Niou grinned down at Hideaki. "You know how to imitate Kirihara, right?"

The girl frowned at him. "Why can't you dress up as him instead? Why do I have to do it when I'm the girl?"

"Wow, you sure whine a lot, puri." Niou smirked, holding up a finger. "Number one, I'm at least 10cm taller than that guy. We can compensate for you being shorter than him with insoles, but there's no way I can make myself shorter without being suspicious." He held out another finger. "Number two, going into the staffroom with a bloodstained and pencil-marked shirt, and cotton wool stuffed up the nose, is extremely suspicious." He put out a third finger. "Lastly, you're already dressed up as him. Deal with it, piyo."

Hideaki sighed, as she ruffled her (fake, short, black and curly) hair. Her taekwondo sensei always told her to take on challenges bravely.

She knocked on the staffroom door, and waited with hitched breath.

A female teacher opened the door, and gave Hideaki an appraising look. "Ah, Kirihara-kun, isn't it! Soto-sensei already left, so I'll pass on your punishment to him, alright?" The lady giggled, taking the paper from Hideaki. "Pay attention in class next time!" She waved before gently closing the door on Hideaki.

One seconds. Two seconds passed in silence. Niou noticed that Hideaki's face was twitching.

If Soto-sensei had already left, simple logic dictated that he had left before Hideaki had arrived. Just a little more logic would reveal that _Hideaki had just waited outside the staff room, owed Niou a favour, and dressed up as Kirihara, all for nothing, all because Soto-sensei thought it would be funny to just ditch Kirihara in school by leaving early._

_"Th-" _ Hideaki got out. "_Son of a-"_

"Well." Niou interrupted cheerily. "That was anti-climatic. At least the disguise worked, puri? Don't forget you still owe me a favour!"

Hideaki's face just twitched some more as she threw the wig in Niou's face.

* * *

It was 3.30 when Kirihara left the classroom, but it took at least another hour and a half for him to make it down to the first floor.

He blamed the damn teacher who gave him a detention in the first place. Did he _really _have to gossip about it to the rest of the teachers? Now he had to duck and dive at every corner to avoid being spotted and dragged back to copy his remaining 495 'apples'. God, he_ hated _English.

Praying to whatever deity was out there, he sprinted through the last corridor and out of the main building of the school.

_'Freedom!'_ He whisper-shouted. He couldn't afford getting caught after all that dodging and sprinting.

_'Now where are the tennis courts?'_

Kirihara spotted a guy walking away from the central fountain. "Hey!" He called out. "Can you tell me where the tennis courts are?"

The guy turned around. He had blood on his shirt! And his shirt had some Kanji scrawled on it, though Kirihara wasn't sure what it meant... but it didn't matter! He had to get to the tennis courts before 6, or Rei-san's sacrifice would all be for naught!

"Oh," the boy smiled. He had cotton wool shoved up his nose. Poor guy probably had too much chocolate for lunch. He pointed. "Go that way, turn left, and enter the first room you see!"

"Ah, thank you!" Kirihara grinned. "Thank you sempai! I'll be going now!" Kirihara ran off, his tennis bag clanking noisily.

Niou grinned some more. Idiots in love, and idiots even when they _weren't _in love- The Marui-Hideaki-Kirihara situation would _definitely_ be interesting to watch.

* * *

"Ah, that bastard tricked me!" Kirihara Akaya, rising star of the tennis world, falling for some sempai's lies? He would never forgive himself! How could he let Rei-san down like this! He ran towards the right direction with the determination of a hundred shonen-manga protagonists- like hell he'd just give up like that!

The tennis courts were in sight. Kirihara ran faster. For all the hopes and dreams that were placed on him, he would work harder!

* * *

Hideaki stood outside the tennis courts, scratching her chin. She had washed off all the makeup that Niou put on her, changed back into the female uniform and had re-worn the bow that Nanami had given to her. (She said it would bring good luck. Yeah right, Nanami.) She was unable to see Bunta, and she couldn't spot Kirihara playing anywhere. Maybe he had already finished signing up and gone home? Hideaki twitched at the thought. _I wasted so much time. I could be at taekwondo learning how to hold Bunta down if he ever wants to charge into a cake store._

Unbeknownst to Hideaki, the few tennis pre-regulars standing around (namely, Jackal and a few others,) were openly gaping at her. Marui talked about Rei so much that they _all _knew her schedule to the minute. Seriously. Marui was that bad.

_'Shouldn't she be at taekwondo? Marui always runs off to pick her up instead of picking up balls after practice!' _They all thought simultaneously.

"Ah, Rei! What are you doing here?" Speak of the devil. "Don't you have taekwondo?" Marui ran towards them, flailing one of his arms at Rei as he balanced all the cans of drinks on one hand. Rei stared. Was he doing some sort of balance training? The boy looked caught between some sort of shock and excitement, however, and the cans were extrememly close to toppling over.

"Oh, I skipped today." she said sweetly. _Because of a certain boy who doesn't know who Oda Nobunaga is, and a certain English-History teacher who decided to leave school early. Terrible people._

Marui dropped a can. Rei, skipping? Rei _never _skipped anything. She was too lazy to deal with the consequences! Who made her do this?!

"Ah, are you sick!? Are you-" Marui remembered himself (_remember Bunta, you have to keep your sis-con habits a secret!)_, and cleared his throat. "Ah, I mean, that's not like you at all, Rei."

Rei nodded. "I had to do someone a favour. So I cancelled my lessons."

Marui's lip twitched. "Is... That so? Who would dare to- I mean, uh... Rei, you're growing up."

Stare. "You're only a year older than me, Bunta."

Jackal sweatdropped as the two bickered. '_Marui's acting is getting worse as time goes on. Hideaki-chan must also be getting stupider.' _

"Ah, Bunta, I wanted to ask you something. Has this junior, Kirihara, been here yet? He's the guy that was on the school gate this morning." Rei deadpanned.

The pre-regulars inhaled and held their breaths. _What a daring question, Rei-chan! Are you trying to hurt Bunta's feelings?! Don't ask about another guy when you're with him!_

_But that's a good question. Where exactly was Kirihara Akaya? Didn't he say he was going to defeat the Big Three in the morning?_

"I'M HERE! AND IT'S ONLY 5.52! I'M NOT LATE!" A loud voice sounded from the entrance. A boy sprinted into the court, screeching to a stop right in between Marui and Hideaki.

_'You're very late.'_ everyone deadpanned simultaneously. The tennis tryouts had started at 3.45.

Hideaki twitched at the unique, mildly irritating presence. "Kirihara?"

Said boy straightened, before breaking into a blinding grin. "Ah, Rei-san!"

'_First name basis?' _All the pre-regulars thought in unison. Marui twitched.

"Ah, Rei-san, thanks for helping me today, you really saved my hide! I was nearly caught by the teachers several times though, so I got delayed." Kirihara scratched his head sheepishly.

'_He's the one who made Hideaki cancel her taekwondo lessons!' _Some of the pre-regulars covered their mouths in horror. '_And how the hell do you get delayed for 2 hours?' _Marui's fist clenched around one of the cans.

Hideaki just nodded after a short pause. "Don't forget that you have to treat me to yakiniku, Kirihara." She would _never _turn down free food, even if it was from an annoying guy.

'_A date? A date! Are they going on a date!" _One of the tennis pre-regulars started biting his nails from the tension. The Marui-Hideaki-Kirihara situation had become something of an entertainment for them, like one of those 8'oclock dramas.

_Fssht!_ The can in Marui's hand sprung a leak. Hideaki looked past Kirihara's shoulder and raised an eyebrow. "Bunta, be careful with your grip training. Don't cut yourself with the can, ok?"

"HUH? I mean, uh, huh? Ah, don't worry about me, Rei..." Bunta broke into a fit of rather forced laughter, aggressively popping his gum when Rei wasn't looking. The pre-regulars cringed.

"Maybe tomorrow, Rei-san?" Kirihara asked cheerily, completely unaware of the growing killer-aura behind him.

"AHEM!" Marui shoved the sign-up sheet in Kirihara's face. "You... You're here for this aren't you!"

"Ah, yep, thanks sempai! I- woah!" Marui jerked the paper out of Kirihara's reach, causing the boy to grab at nothing.

"NOT YET! NOT YET! You have to prove yourself in tennis before you get close to Rei-I mean, _Rei_kkai Dai Middle school's tennis team! Yes! " Marui waved the paper in wide arcs over his head. "You'll have to go through a _veeery _vigorous, difficult test. _Very difficult. _In fact, I suggest you quit now."

_'All he has to do is last through this session of swing practice...'_ Jackal rolled his eyes.

"Ah!" Kirihara's eyes snapped into focus. "Yeah, _that's_ what I'm here for, aren't I?"

"You're going to quit?" Marui asked gleefully.

Kirihara pouted. "No, I'm here to challenge the Big Three AND BECOME NUMBER ONE! HEY! THE BIG THREE! THREE DEMONS! WHERE ARE YOU! I ISSUE YOU A CHALLENGE! I BET I CAN BEAT ALL OF YA IN ONE GO!"

Jackal sighed rubbed his forehead with his knuckles. This was worse than watching a slow motion of a car wreck.

* * *

Hideaki pursed her lips. "_Those_ seniors are the Big Three?" She had just watched three seniors get whopped by a twelve year old. A _twelve year old who couldn't even walk through a supermarket without knocking over a shelf of soup cans._ She felt her confidence and pride in the Rikkai tennis team crumble into dust.

Bunta sighed and popped his gum from his spot next to Hideaki. "They might be our seniors, but we second year pre-regulars should be better than them. But they've already been trashed by Yukimura and the others so badly, we can't steal their regular positions as well! We're letting them keep their dignity and graduate as regulars."

Niou, standing on Bunta's other side, cackled loudly. "Gives me more time to pull pranks, too. Puri."

She scratched her head. Rikkai was so weird.

"Hah, is that all you guys got?" Kirihara's voice jerked Hideaki out of her reverie. She frowned at his attitude. What a rude kid, never mind the fact that they were the same age.

"What is all this commotion?" A pretty, feminine, voice sounded from the distance. Hideaki watched curiously as all the Rikkai club members, including Bunta, straightened and cleared their throats. Was the supervising teacher a woman? Was it their manager? Bunta never mentioned any women on the team before...

The trio steadily came into view. Hideaki frowned at the blue haired girl in the centre. Manager, maybe? Her physique was too flat for her to be a full grown woman. The guy with the forehead wrinkles was probably the coach, he looked like he was about forty. But why would the coach wear the team jacket? Was he trying to look young, or what?

Did that mean the guy with slitty eyes was Yukimura? Hideaki sighed. Bunta didn't describe how her teammates looked like to her! In fact, he always seemed to avoid the topic when she asked...

Jackal noted Hideaki's confused expression with an impending feeling of doom. 'MARUI!' He mouthed over Hideaki's head.

'What is it?' Marui mouthed back impatiently, glancing back at the court. Sanada had just sent a glare in their direction.

'Did you tell Hideaki how the Big Three looked like?' Jackal asked soundlessly.

'Of course not, what if she develops a crush on one of them?' was the frantic reply.

NIou snorted. Not very quietly.

"You over there...what are you doing?" Yukimura's voice put a stop to their frantic 'silent' communication. He smiled icily. "It looks like you need some discipline." Bunta and Jackal quickly looked over- but realized she was talking to Kirihara. They also noticed that Hideaki was staring up at Yukimura with wide, adoring eyes.

Jackal had a bad feeling about this.

Without warning, Hideaki nodded emphatically. "I totally agree with you, Miss Manager!"

_'What?'_ Everyone, including Kirihara and the trio stared at Hideaki.

Hideaki ignored their stares. Jackal suspected she didn't even notice them. "Kirihara!" Hideaki yelled, pointing at said boy. "You are in serious need of some discipline!" Kirihara raised an eyebrow quizzically and pointed at himself. "YES, you, Kirihara! Don't you dare say anything! From the moment we met? You've been causing trouble. First, you interrupt the graduation ceremony. Then, you knock over like 20 soup cans and pretend you weren't the one who did it. You get caught anyway. You pretend to be a store mannequin, then knock them over and set off a store alarm while you're escaping! Because of that they searched my mom's bag! And then there's that business with that Soto-sensei today. I had to make a deal with _that guy! And you end up wasting it and come two hours late!_" Hideaki flailed her arm in Niou's general direction. "And now, you're telling me that _just_ because you defeated some random three seniors, you're the number one in Japan?" She threw up her arms in defeat. "Just _what, _is your problem! If I could recognize your face I would _slap _it!"

A resounding silence settled over the court. For the first time in Rei's life, she had snapped in front of a group of people.

"Excuse me. Rei-chan, right?" Hideaki snapped back into focus. The cool manager lady was smiling at her.

"Ah, yes! Sorry for interrupting you!" Hideaki went into a ninety-degree bow. "Miss Manager, did you know Bunta didn't even tell me that the tennis team had a manager? But you're really cool! Right Bunta?" Hideaki's close analysis of Bunta revealed that he was currently frozen in shock. "Well, yeah, he doesn't really talk about the people on the tennis team, who knows why! Please carry on scolding this guy, Miss Manager!" Hideaki beamed, gesturing towards the shell-shocked Kirihara.

"Well, about that... I'm not the manager, Rei-chan." Her smile seemed a little more forced.

"Oh, club advisor, then?" Hideaki raised her eyebrows. "But, but, you look so young! But don't listen to me, I can't even piece together someone's face, let alone tell someone's age!" Hideaki laughed, fanning herself.

"Rei-chan, I'm Yukimura Seiichi. Yukimura. Seiichi. Seiichi is a boy's name." The smile was gone now, replaced by something like a grimace.

"Oh, it's alright to have a boy's name, Yukimura... sempai... Wait. Yukimura... is the... captain of the boy's team...?"

"Yes. Yes!" Yukimura emphasized the latter sentence.

There was a silence.

"Then..." Hideaki screwed up her face in concentration. "You're... his sister?"

"What-No!" Yukimura wasn't the type to get angry easily, but this girl was absolutely _obstinate._

"...Mother?"

"..."

"...Uh, perhaps you're the... aunt?"

"NO!" Yukimura exploded. "My name is Yukimura Seiichi and I am the captain of the Rikkai Dai Boy's tennis team, which also means I am a boy, Rei-chan. Also, the club has no manager. I was going to ask you politely, _in-character_, with Renji and Genchirou helping me, whether you want to be the club manager, so we can keep Marui in check- but since we're already here at this point, just take the form and _sign it."_ With a flourish, Yukimura drew out a form from his jacket. "See here, here? This is the blank where you write your name, and this is where you sign! If you need further explanation, please go talk to your dear friend, Marui." She-_no, He,_ smiled again.

"I-" Hideaki started.

"_SIGN IT."_ Yukimura hissed.

"Uh, okay." The only girl on the court timidly responded.

"Now, excuse me, there's someone I need to _discipline, as the captain of this club." _The feminine boy stalked away angrily.

Hideaki stared at the form, at Yukimura, at the form, at Bunta, at Kirihara, and back at the form again.

_What the hell just happened?_

* * *

**AN: Poor, poor, Yukimura.**

**I think he's out of character- but the Yukimura in this story is going to be calm and collected on the surface, but is secretly irritated at how **_**absolutely stupid and incapable **_**everyone is, minus Sanada and Yanagi.**

**I'm not really satisfied with the flow of this chapter. Because I was trying to fit everything according to the OVA's timing, it turned out weeeird. I may come back and edit.**

**I may change the order of events in the story, but the outcomes (should) be the same. IDK I DON'T WANT SEIGAKU TO WIN NATIONALS ****WHEHHEHEHE**

**The Koro-sensei at the start of the fic is a reference to Assassination classroom I LOVE THAT MANGA**

**CALM DOWN HIDEAKI**

**THANK YOU FOR READING**


	6. 80-hit combos and bristly broomsticks

**Title:** Mosiac

**Summary:** Hideaki scrunched up her nose at Marui. "Why exactly do all these tennis players have sch weird hair? Does it increase their performance or something?" MaruixOCxKirihara

**AN:** MY PRELIMS ARE LIKE TWO DAYS. WHY AM I UPDATING

* * *

_Tick. Tick. Tick._

Rei watched the wall clock in the office as the jammed second hand erratically pivoted back and forth across the same spot. 'It's already 6,' Hideaki thought grumpily. 'It's dinner time already. Mom's gonna kill me.'

Dinner seemed to be the last thing on Bunta's mind though. The magenta haired boy was wringing his hands around his tennis racket nervously. His eyes, instead of following the wall clock's jammed second hand, was following the pacing movements of his captain. Likewise Yukimura, who was stalking around his desk angrily, didn't seem to be thinking of warm family meals either.

Sanada and Yanagi, standing in a corner of the room, were having a hushed conversation. Hideaki heard snippets of "Are you sure? Her?" from Sanada and "Yes, yes, I overheard a conversation in the staffroom," from Yanagi. Sanada kept glaring in their general direction, for some reason.

Three demons had defeated Kirihara thoroughly and soundly, each game taking only a few minutes. It was a completely one sided battle; indeed, Yukimura had thoroughly carried out his discipline. Kirihara had run off after the match; Rei felt _a little _bad for scolding him just now.

Now the only problem was that Yukimura's attention was no longer on defeating Kirihara; it was on making sure that Rei stuck to her word and signed the form. Thus he dragged both Rei and Marui into his office (which middle schooler had an office, seriously?) and sat them down.

Which brought them to present time.

...

Yukimura had been pacing for _ten minutes._ Really. Rei wasn't sure why exactly Yukimura was so mad. Perhaps it the manager thing? Sure, she would be kinda angry if someone mistook her for a boy,( a boy with long chestnut hair wearing a skirt?) but that was almost half an hour ago!

_'Dad always did say that women knew how to keep grudges...ah wait, Yukimura's a guy.'_ Hideaki nodded to herself. _'and I'm a woman, so that would mean I would know how to keep grudges... Hm. Dad's wrong, I guess.'_

Absorbed deep in thought, it took a while for Rei to notice that Yukimura had stopped pacing. He was looking straight at her.

It took even longer to realize that _everyone else_ in the room was staring. Very hard. At the corner of her mouth. Bunta was making a wiping motion with his hand.

"Uh, did I miss something?" Hideaki asked blankly.

"I TOLD YOU!" Sanada exploded, red in the face. "This girl, an asset to our team? Are you alright in the head?"

"Rei, you're drooling a little." Marui whispered urgently as the three demons started bickering in the background.

"I'm hungry and I was thinking too hard." Rei whispered back, equally urgently. "Why are we here again? Can I just sign the form and go home?"

* * *

Another 5 minutes later, with a lot of loud shouting from Sanada, and a really authoritative "SIT DOWN!" from Yukimura, three demons, one pre-regular, and one hungry, confused, first year girl were all sitting calmly (except for Sanada) around Yukimura's desk.

"You are going to be our manager." Yukimura announced, with a tone of finality.

"Uh, okay."

"Please sign the form on this line here. That way there's a 99% chance you won't back out. " Yanagi chimed in.

"Sure, I guess." Rei shrugged as she scrawled the Kanji for 'Rei' on the indicated space. Then she turned to face the last person in the room.

'Such pronounced forehead wrinkles.' Hideaki thought idly to herself.

WHAT CAN YOU EVEN CONTRIBUTE TO OUR TEAM? Are you just going to be a distraction? What is your IQ, is it above a hundred? Are you really a martial artist? How did you even pass the entry test to our sch-" Yukimura slapped a hand over Sanada's mouth.

"What our dear vice-captain meants to ask is this." Yukimura smiled coldly. "Will you be able to fufill basic roles as a manager? Or will you just be a figurehead?"

A silence settled over the room. Bunta looked like he was on the verge of protesting, but he didn't really want to mouth off to the tennis club's Big Three on the first day of school.

…_..._

_'...Oh my god, it's only the first day of school.'_ Bunta realized with some horror. _'I knew that Rei would cause trouble, but this is too much!'_

Rei stared. Sanada stared back.

"Well…" Rei scratched at the bow on her head. "If the people in the club are running too slowly or something….. I can hit them for you? I hit really hard." She put forward her fist hesitantly. "Maybe even harder than any of you…?"

There was a moment of incredulous silence from Sanada.

Yanagi put a palm over his face. "There's a 99% chance that…"

Sanada stood up abruptly, knocking over his chair in the process. "THEN SHOW ME! SHOW ME WHAT YOU CAN DO AS A MARTIAL ARTIST! GET UP! Do you believe you are worthy of taking the place as the disciplinarian in the Rikkaidai tennis club?!"

"...Genchirou will take those words as a personal challenge." Yukimura finished wryly.

Bunta could almost cry. Only the first day of school, and his childhood friend had just been challenged to a duel with one of the scariest, most passionate, young men in the school. Of course, it was Rei that he was talking about, so he supposed he shouldn't be that worried.

…...There was also the matter of his plan to befriend (and then betray) Kirihara. Damn. He eyed the chaotic scene around him. Rei was sitting slouched at the table, looking like she hadn't eaten for days. The three demons were arguing again, Yanagi and Yukimura trying to subdue Sanada and prevent him from beating up the young girl.

Marui looked down at his phone stealthily, typing in a quick message...

* * *

"You stay _over there." _Nanami spat.

Jackal crouched passively, hands stretched out like how one would try to appease an angry grizzly bear. "Niou, maybe we should come back later-"

Niou, standing behind Jackal, just grinned. "Aww Shio-chan, no need to be so hostile! Puri." completely disregarding the fact that she had already given him a bloody nose just a few hours earlier.

"_How did you. Find. My. House." _Nanami growled out. Although she had to admit she didn't look very intimidating wearing fluffy house shoes and her brother's old track pants while standing in the doorway of her (pink) room. Apparently her mother had recognized Niou and _just let the two buffoons in without any regard for her daughter's feelings._

Jackal was intimidated, pink fluffy shoes or not. "W-we need your help! M-m-marui wants us to um, well, befriend Kirihara on his behalf since he's with Hideaki-chan now." He held up his phone with a trembling hand. "S-see?"

The text was obviously typed hurriedly, with quite a few typos. '_Contsact NIou n Namknami, n go thru with plan. BIG ThREE R FIGHtiNG!" _

Nanami blanched at the text. "Why are all the boys going after Rei so stupid? One doesn't know who _Oda Nobunaga is,_ and the other can't even type properly! AT LEAST SPELL MY NAME RIGHT!?"

"That's not important right now." Niou smirked. "We gotta get Marui and that Rei kid together, don't we?"

"_No, we do not." _Nanami replied, gritting her teeth, "I don't care if they do get together or not. I'm going back into my room. GET OUT OF MY HOUSE."

"You know, Shio-chan," Niou smirked. "If you bail out on us now, it means you'll be the bridesmaid at Rei and Kirihara's wedding."

Nanami, halfway through slamming her door on them completely, froze in her tracks.

* * *

_Where the hell are they? How can they be late?_

_Nanami stood by the aisle, fidgeting as the people in the pews murmured and gossiped away. Runaway bride? But the groom isn't here either…. why? The parents from both sides are here, although Mrs. Kirihara looks like she's going to go into conniptions….._

_The door of the church slammed open with a bang. Everyone seated turned around excitedly, only to sigh as they realized that it wasn't the bride or the groom- It was one very angry Marui Bunta, signalling at Nanami , Niou and Jackal to come outside. In the most dignified way possible , the three of them removed themselves from the altar to meet Marui outside._

"_What's going on? Where are they?" Jackal asked nervously._

_Marui put his face in his hands. "I just called Kirihara, and he told me that both he and Rei got the date wrong. They thought it was next month. He's currently in his apartment, scrambling to get changed."_

_Nanami gaped. "The date wrong? THE DATE WRONG? How do you get the date wrong for your own wedding?" _

_Niou smirked tiredly. "It is Rei-chan and Seaweed head we're talking about here."_

_Jackal sighed. "...I… Well. Where is Hideaki then?"_

"_For some reason," Marui winced, "I can't contact her phone. But the GPS I implanted on her shows that she's at a barbecue restaurant…... Well, it is lunchtime." _

_Reactions to Marui's revelation were varied._

"_BARBEQUE? I TOLD THAT GIRL TO AVOID FATTY MEAT! AND SHE FORGOT TO BRING HER PHONE OUT AGAIN?"_

"_Y-you implanted a GPS on her? Marui, she's getting married!"_

"_...I'm not even surprised. Puri." _

"_WHY DO I HAVE TO DEAL WITH THIS? WHY DID GOD SEND ME HIDEAKI REI AS MY FIRST AND ONLY FRIEND?" Nanami wailed._

…_.. All the men turned to face her._

"_But Nanami, this is all your fault." Marui interjected tonelessly._

"_W-what?"_

"_Yes, Shio-chan. It's all your fault for not going along with the plan." Niou's cold blue eyes were more soulless than ever._

"_It's your fault." Jackal repeated quietly. "If you'd gone along with the plan 10 years ago, we'd be attending Marui's wedding now. It would be a very normal wedding. Very nice. Although we would have a very large wedding cake."_

"_It's your fault." Marui intoned again._

"_It's your fault." Niou and Jackal joined in, surrounding the panicking bridesmaid-_

…_._

"**NO!" **Nanami snapped out of her reverie. "...I mean, yes. I'll go along with your plan. Only because Marui is the lesser of two evils. I mean, a gigantic wedding cake is much better than Rei eating oily fatty meat on her wedding day- Haah." she slumped against the wall, exhausted by her own imagination.

"Glad you changed your mind, piyo." Niou smirked at her.

* * *

Yukimura's office had been rearranged into a sort of illegal fighting ring, courtesy of one angry Vice-captain. Marui sighed. Rei tended to influence people to do crazy things like this.

"MATCH. NOW." Sanada barked.

"..." Rei stared. "This…. is a boxing ring?"

"And I'm a kendo practitioner." Sanada snapped, hitting his temporary sword (a broom) against the floor. "You are a taekwondo black belt. These conditions will not benefit either one of us- it will be a fair match."

Rei, puzzled at being dragged into this shonen-manga like development, merely shrugged and stepped into the ring. "What are we fighting over again? Also, I'm still a brown belt. My ceremony is tomorro-"

"THIS IS A MATCH FOR DOMINANCE." Sanada interrupted. "Whoever lands the first hit will be the victor, and they shall decide how the Rikkai Dai tennis club shall be run!"

"Uh, woah, that's not what I… uh. Well, if I defeat you I can go home right?" Rei readied herself. "Then, let's go."

With that, Sanada lunged, the broom seemingly lethal in his hands. Rei winced and ducked out of the way. That was some ridiculous power…!

Sanada attacked relentlessly; Rei could see that he was a well rounded fighter, who attacked straightforwardly and honorably. The first thing her sensei had taught her was how to size up an opponent.

The second thing he taught her was how to pick out their weak areas.

'_He's stronger, but I'm faster; though not by much.' _

Hideaki was smaller; lighter. It was only logical that she would be able to dodge her opponent. Sanada would eventually run out of energy. Then she would be able to attack.

..At least, that's what she thought.

"_SWIFT LIKE LIGHTNING!" _Sanada roared.

After that strange shonen-manga esque battle cry, it seemed like Sanada was moving twice as fast as before- Hideaki struggled to keep up. '_If he was capable of doing that he should have done that from the start!' _

She ducked under Sanada's broom-shinai as he aimed for a strike to her side, barely evading a hit. She attempted to kick him from behind but he blocked it easily with a perfected guard movement. Rei was starting to sweat; she knew now that her stamina would never match up to his.

'_All his moves are perfected. He must have practiced them for years!'_ Rei frowned. ' _But that means…. they are predictable. Just movements from muscle memory.' _

Sanada readied his stance again. '_Swift like lightning,' _Rei noted absently.

He swung the broom. Instead of ducking like before, she sidestepped the weapon-

-and grabbed it by the bristles.

'_No matter how good he is at kendo, this is not the right weapon for it.' _Hideaki rationalized. '_The precision and speed was affected enough for me to grab the weapon safely.'_

Taking advantage of Sanada's shock at her unexpected move, she twisted the broom out of his hands and held it at his neck.

Everyone in the room gaped at her.

"Brooms are for sweeping." She said simply. "Not fighting."

* * *

"Damn! DAMN! How could I….. How could I lose so easily?" Kirihara growled as he marched into the arcade. "And I've lost Rei-san's respect too…. As a man I can't let someone who's done me a favor get away that easily!"

"Just what is he mumbling about?" Nanami whisper-yelled. "He's not a man, he's a prepubescent tween!"

"You're the same age as him, Shio-chan." Niou replied dryly, lounging against the wall.

Nanami drove one of her heels into his foot.

"Settle down, you two, we'll be discovered!" Jackal waved them over urgently. The three of them were in a purikura machine, heads peeking out from behind the curtain. "If we don't do this right Marui is going to force me to buy him cake every day for _months_!"

"You already do that, piyo." Niou chirped, flexing his foot. "Shio-chan, aren't you glad I'm wearing durable hiking boots today?"

"WHAT SORT OF IDIOT WEARS HIKING BOOTS TO THE ARCADE?"

"The type that has to spend time with you, apparently."

"Shh! Look over there and stop fighting!"

Kirihara had taken a seat at one of the street fighter machines, talking aloud to himself once again. Seriously, Nanami was worried about his mental health. "I'd feel damn great if I could go against some weakling! I'd _crush him into the ground and dye him red!" _

…_.._

"Who sucks the most at street fighter here?" Jackal asked hesitantly.

Niou looked at Nanami. Nanami looked at Niou.

"Him."

"Her."

Jackal sighed. "...Nanami-chan, could you please play against Kirihara? And lose? Deliberately?" He was only asking because Niou would probably let Kirihara think he was winning, then destroy him in the last few moments of the game.

"...Are you saying _I'm worse than this guy? At street fighter? I play it every day at Rei's house because she won't shut up about it!" _Nanami scowled.

"Uh no, I'm just saying, that uh, you… have a more cooperative personality." Jackal amended nervously, glancing at Niou. '_At least, you're the lesser of two evils.'_

Nanami's glare softened. "Heard that, you troublesome moleface? This doesn't mean you're better than me at street fighter!"

"Of course, Shio-chan." Niou smirked, shoving her towards the console.

* * *

….

Jackal learned something new today.

Nanami Shio was completely unable to control her emotions.

It had started off well, really, with Nanami only inputting basic attacks and letting Kirihara steal as much HP as possible. Then Kirihara started getting cocky; taunting Nanami from the relative safety of his gaming console.

"Is that all? Are you a kindergartener with those basic moves?" Kirihara cackled.

Nanami frowned, hand tightening about the joystick.

"I'd think you were blind, with how you're throwing out those moves!"

The tapping of the buttons became a little more frenzied.

"What are you," Kirihara snickered. "a _girl?"_

Nanami smiled chillingly. "Yes, I am." she called over the machine.

It was over in an instant. The unleashed Nanami meted out combo attack after combo attack, Kirihara barely had time to blink before the jarring "K.O" blared out from the speakers.

Nanami stood up and walked over to Kirihara's console. "Don't underestimate women." Gesturing to the screen, she stared at Kirihara in the eye. "Chun Li is dancing on _Ryu's dead body _right now."

As she turned to leave , Kirihara grabbed her sleeve. "W-Wait!"

"Yes?"

"P-Please teach me! The way of street fighter!" Kirihara blurted out.

_How high is this guy?! _Nanami stared at him. "Teach…."

"Yes! That crazy combo just now? You just unleashed it like WHOOM and BADOOM AND BANG!" Kirihara's eyes shone. "And that finishing move? Woah! I never knew Chun Li could do that!"

Nanami blinked at Kirihara, and then gazed in the direction of her two fellow conspirators. Jackal was frantically waving and giving her the OK sign. Niou was laughing way too hard to even look at her.

"Well…" Nanami inspected her nails. "Maybe we can talk about it over lunch. Also I'm not sure if you noticed, but I'm your classmate."

Kirihara's mouth dropped into a ridiculous 'o' shape. "REALLY! Well, it's only the first day of school, so I haven't looked at everyone properly. I've only met Rei-san. Do you know her? Long, brown hair, she looks kinda stoned most of the time-"

"Yes, I know her."

"Oh! Great! I think I kind of made her angry somehow. I'm trying to figure out how to apologize to her."

Nanami's eyebrows shot into her hairline. "You made her _angry?_ Gosh, I've been trying to elict a response from that dead fish of a girl for over a year. You tell me how you got her to be angry, and I'll tell you how to get a 80-hit combo in street fighter. Deal?" She supposed talking to Kirihara wouldn't hurt.

"Deal!" Kirihara chirped.

Jackal watched as the unlikely pair exited the arcade, talking animatedly. Then he turned to Niou,who was collapsed against the seat, laughing hysterically.

_...Well, that escalated quickly, _Jackal thought grimly, as he pulled both himself and the hysterical Niou out of the booth, following after Nanami and Kirihara as best as he could.

'_Will the rest of my middle school life be filled with crap like this?'_

* * *

**WHAT THE FRICk is going on in this chapter. It is a mystery, even to me. Just know that literally everyone has the worst first day of school ever.**

**IT's so difficult making your OCs non mary sues in a universe where a 15 year old can cross a tennis court in like, half a millisecond. So I hope the fight scene (the one with the broom, not the street fighter one) was at least partially believable.**

**As usual, feel free to point out mistakes or plotholes! Sometimes my timeline is so complicated that I confuse myself.**

**Thanks for reading!**


End file.
